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J. BYFIELD. STOP Mo'rIoN ron KNITTING MACHINES.

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H lmli'll' m1-Hull El: ,lu l u "WM Mn Ffa-2. HHH I .A by M'tm' L (NoModel.) v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. J. BYFIELD. STOP MOTION FOR KNITTINGMACHINES. No. 342,823. Patented June 1, 1886.

Nrren STATES JOHN BYFIELD, OF LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THEBYFIELD MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

STOP-MOTION F'OR KNITTINGMACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 342,823, dated June 1,1886..

Application filed August 24, 1885. Serial No. 175,199. (No model.)

.T ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN BYFIELD, of Lowell, in the county of 'Middlesexand State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new andusefulImprovementsinStop-Motions forKnitting-Machines, of which thefollowing, Ataken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is aspecication.

My invention relates to stop-motions for cirio cular-knitting machines,and to that particular class of stop-motions, in which the action of thestop mechanism is controlled by the knit fabric, and is in part anadaptation of certain devices shown and described in Letters Patent No.828,876, granted to me October 20, 1885, for a stop-motion controlled bythe tension of the yarn to a stop-motion controlled by the knit fabric;and it consists iu certain novel constructions, arrangements, and 2ocombinations of parts, which will be readily understood by reference tothe description of the drawings, and to the claims to be hereinaftergiven.

Figure l of the d rawiugs is a plan of so much of a circular-knittingmachine as is necessary to illustrate my invention, and showingafragmentof knit fabric attached to the needles. Fig. 2 is a front elevation ofthe same. Fig.

3 is an elevation of a portion of the needle-` head and of the devicefor operating the stop mechanism when a hole is formed in the fabric,the locking-lever H being shown in section. Fig. 4 is a vertical sectionthrough a portion of the stand for supporting the iuclined shaft,carrying at its upper end the fabric-pressing linger. Fig. 5 is a planof the brake-pawl, and showing its relation to the periphery of thebase-ange on the needlehead when engaging therewith to arrest therevolution of said needle-head; and Fig. 6 is a transverse verticalsection through the shipper-operated locking latch-bar and a portion ofthe bed of the machine and the shipperlocking lever, the cutting planebeing on line u a: a in Fig. 2.

In the drawings, A is the bed of the machine, only a small portion ofwhich is shown.

B is the needle-head, provided with the base flange or collar B, andcarrying the series of barbed needles b,- and c represents a fragment ofa knit fabric attached to said needles, the stitchforming mechanism andyarn-guides being omitted, as beingunnecessary in the drawings, as theyform no part of my present invention. The needle-headBis operatedinawell-known manner by a suitable shaft and gearing located below thebed A, said gearing being arranged to be shipped into or out of gear bythe lever C, substantially as shown and described in my before-citedpatent, said gearing and shaft and 5o the connection of the lever C notbeing shown in the dragviugs, as theyl are old and form no part of mypresent invention.

D is thebrake-pawl, pivoted to the bed A at c, and provided with therearwardly-pro 55 jecting arm d, from the rear end of which rises theear d, said brakepawl D having its inner end so shaped and being soarranged relative to the outer surface of the flange or collar B of theneedle-head B that the two surfaces of 7o the pawl and collar shalliuipinge upon each at the point e in front of a radial line drawnthrough the axis of said needle-head and the pivotal axis of the pawl D,as shown in Fig. 5.

E is an elbow-lever, pivoted atf to the bed A with its front arm aboutparallel with the front edge of said bed, and its rear arm resting atits end upon the upper surface ofthe pawl D in the rear of the pin g,set in the upper surface of said pawl, and which en- 8o gages with saidrear arm to move the lever E about its pivotal axis to disengage theshoulder h, formed upon the front edge of its front arm near its end,from the nose i of the latchbar F when the pawl D is thrown intoengagement withthe collar B of the needle-head B, thus releasing saidlatch-bar and permitting the reaction ofthe spring G to move said bar Fto the right, and thus cause the shipper-lever C to unship thegears,substantially as dege scribed in my patent before cited. A`spring,

7.a', is firmly secured at one end to the under side of the rear arm ofthe elbow-lever E with its free end arranged to press against the frontedge of the pawl D, as shown in Fig. l, the action of which is to tendto force said levers apart-i. e., to press the pawl-lever toward therear and the elbow -lever toward the front of the machine-which tendencyis controlled by the pin g coming in contact with Ioo the curved edge ofthe rear arm of the elbowlever E.

H is a lever, pivoted at l to the stand I, screwed to the top of thebed, as shown, the rear arm of said lever H extending backward over thepawl D and .beyond the ear d', with which the shoulder m, formed uponits under side, engages when the free end of the pawl D is moved awayfrom engagement with the collar B', as shown in Fig. l, the rear end ofsaid rear arm of thelever H being weighted so that it falls by the forceof gravity into engagement with said ear when said ear d is moved infront of said shoulder m. The other arm of the lever H is curvedpartially'around the needie-head, and its end is curved downwardslightly, as shown in Fig. 2.

J is an inclined shaft, mounted in bearings in the stand K, and carryingat its upper end the curved finger n, and provided at its lower end withthe arm o, which may be formed in one piece with said shaft or madeseparately therefrom and secured thereto in any wellknown manner. Aspiral spring, p, is coiled around the shaft J, and has its upper endsecured to the collar q, firmly secured to said shaft, so as to revolvetherewith, and its lower end attached to the milled collar r, mountedloosely upon said shaft, and provided with ratchet-teeth upon its lowerend, which engage with the pin aset inthe upper side of thelower bearingof the stand K, as shown in Fig. 4.. The stand K is so located upon thebed that the curved rear edge of the finger n. will rest against theknit fabric a just above the upper ends of the needles b, and so thatthe end of the arm o when moved about the axis of the shaft J willimpinge upon the upper curved surface of the front arm of the lever Hand depress it, thereby raising the end of the rear arm of said leverand releasing the pawl D, when the tmsiou of the spring k will causesaid pawl to be moved into contact with the periphery of the collar B',and the pin f/ into contact with the rear arm of the 'elbow-lever E,when any further movement of said pawl, caused by a slight furthermovement of the needle-head, will cause the latch-bar F to be releasedfrom engagement with the front arm of the elbow lever E, and permit thespring G to retract and move the shipper-lever to the right, anddisengage the driving-gear from the gear on the baseof the needle-head.By turning the collar i' upon the shaft J sok as to strain the spring pthe finger a may be made to press with greater or less force upon thefabric, and if it happens that a break occurs in the fabric by thedropping or breaking of a stitch, so as to form a holetherein, when saidhole reaches said finger the torsion of the spring p will cause theshaft J to move about its axis a sufficient distance to depress thefront end of the lever H, as above described.

The operation of my invention will be readily understood from theforegoing without further description here.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States, is-

1. The combination of a rotary needle cyl inder or head, afriction-brake lever or pawl mounted upon an axis outside of saidcylinder in a position to operate upon the periphery of the ueedlehead,a spring for causing said pawl to engage with the needle-head, a leverfor locking and holding said 'pawl in a retracted position, a shaftprovided at one end 7 with a radial Yarm to act upon and vibrate saidlockinglever, a spring arranged to exert a torsional action upon saidshaft andtend to rotate it about its axis, and an arm or finger mountedupon said shaft and arranged to press upon t-he knit fabricjust abovethe points of the needles and hold said shaft from rotating so long asthe fabric is intact and permit such rotation when a break occurs in thefab ric, substantially as described.

i?. The combi nation of a rotary needle cylinder or head, afriction-pawl mounted upon an axis outside of said cylinder in aposition to operate upon the periphery of said needlehead, aspring forcausing said pawl to engage 9 with the needle-head, a lever for lockingand holding said pawl in a retracted position, the shaft J, the springp, made fast at one end to the shaft J and at the other connected to astationary part ofthe machine, and the arms or iingers a and o, allarranged and adapted to operate substantially as and for the purposesdescribed.-

3. The combination of a rotary needle cylinder or head, a frictioupawlmount-ed upon I an axis outside of said head, a spring for causing saidpawl to engage with the periphery of said head, a lever for locking saidpawl in a retracted `position, the stand K, the shaft J, the arms n ando, the collar q, fixed upon said shaft J, the collar r, mounted looselyupon said shaft :and provided with ratchet-teeth upon its lower end, thepin s, set in the stand K, and the spring p, having one end secured tothe collar q and the other end connected to I the collar r, all arrangedand adaptedto operate substantially as and for the purposes de-lscribed.

4. The combination of the needlehead B, the friction-pawl D, .providedwith the pin g, I the elbow-lever E, provided with the shoulder lz, thelatch-bar F, provided with the nose i, the shi pper-lever C, the springsand Gr, the locking-lever H, the stand K, the shaft J, the ratchetedcollar r, the pin s, the spring p, and I the arms or fingers a and o,all arranged and adapted to operate substanti ally as and for thepurposes described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in thepresence of I two subscribing witnesses, on this 20th day of August, A.D. 1885. I

JOHN BYFIELD.

Vitnesses:

WALTER E. LOMBARD, FRANK E. BRAY.

